'Talisman' - Which Expansion Should You Buy Next?

Friday Fantasy Show - The Bottled Imp - Episode 212
Talisman - Which Expansion Should I Buy Next?
The Bottled Imp loves Talisman: the magical quest game. Ken has been travelling the realms in search of the fabled Talisman for many a year, way back when Games Workshop released their First Edition in the early 1980s.
He loved playing the black and white First Edition, with his mates on a rainy Saturday, exploring new lands and fighting strange creatures. When the Second Edition was released, Ken bought his first copy. It was in full colour! Many games were played, many characters died, and many victories were won.
Fantasy Flight revised the Black Industries Fourth Edition, in February 2008, Ken was back on board (pun obviously intended). A redesigned and bigger board, new features such as Fate Tokens, and a host of new expansions, saw Ken’s renewed love for the questing game classic.
Over the next ten years fourteen official expansions have been released. The most common question we get asked here at Imp Towers is, “Which Talisman expansion should I buy next?”
Ask no more fellow imps, as this handy Talisman expansions guide will answer that very question as Ken discusses each expansion form the very first one, The Reaper, to the latest one so far, The Cataclysm. In this guide Ken will explain, in his opinion, what order to buy them in and why. So grab a pen and paper, sit back and get ready to take notes!
As well as this handy expansions guide, The Bottled Imp has detailed review guides for not only the base game of Talisman Revised 4th Edition but also every single one of the fourteen official expansions. Plus he has also created in depth guides for all of the base game characters (with more to follow), giving hints and tips on how to get the most out of each character so you can claim your rightful place and wear the Crown of Command!
Click on the link below for The Bottled Imp Talisman Playlist for all episodes on Talisman:
Talisman 4th Revised Edition Playlist:
tinyurl.com/y9u5aqup
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The Bottled Imp
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Presented by Ken Boyter
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Music by Greg Breden
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Artwork by Richard Nairn
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[@EliasBremer]

This is my list in priority list: 1: Reaper Don't care that much about the reaper himself but the adventure cards and spells are top notch. Just a big splash of classic fantasy added. 2: Dungeon Who doesn’t love dungeons? Really good for increasing the pacing. You get strong fast if you are tough enough to enter. 3: Frostmarch or Sacred pool (depending on personal preference) F: More quests are really nice and ice themed cards are great were it not for them being a little bit too filled with weak enemies. Wonderfully themed characters. S: Quest rewards, more alignment based adventure cards and stables are a great addition as well. a choice of taste 4:Highlands or Woodlands (depending on personal preference) Highlands is pleasant and rich with gems, trinkets and semi dangerous enemies. Woodlands is mysteries, risky and magical with absolutely marvelous characters. A choice of taste here as well. 5:City Gold is finally worth something, but maybe worth too much. Suddenly the game is about buying a flail instead of adventuring. It's very nice however to sell your useless spells and buy fate as "Good" characters 6: Firelands Don't care much for this. impossible to play alone. If you do that the whole world will be on fire and everyone will die. So mix it in with a rich bunch of other expansions to survive. 7: Blood moon The expansion with the largest amount of adventure cards. 120 to be exact which is more than the original game. Becoming a lycanthrope is very cool but personally, the day and night thing really bothers me due to the enemies changing their original strength and craft. That time cards get really chipped as well unless you sleeve it. And if you don’t want to play with the day and night card, you need to shuffle out most of these 120 cards because they usually have something to do with day and night. 8: Harbinger This is low in priority because it's the ending of the game. It's supposed to be played last. Unless you don't plan on buying all of the expansions, you can get this earlier of course. It's very interesting and makes the pacing go faster. I like it. and it's a great set up for the last biggie! 9:Cataclysm When your original board is shredded to pieces and sun bleached like mine, this is a good purchase. You replace the entire board with a new one. Same world but totally destroyed. I like the Denizen mechanic a lot and the characters are great. good expansion and an epic end to it all. 10: Dragon I don't play this anymore. It's just not fun to draw those damn tokens all the time and we always forget to draw them. I mean, the idea is cool and it can be fun if you want to switch it up a bit but personally I was quite disappointed by this one. /sincerely Elias Bremer

[@thebottledimp]

Great comments! Very interesting order and reasons.

[@sylvaincousineau5073]

Finding or build a big table that have the space for all the corners is not to hard to deal with , but the real challenge is to find a way to manage all adventure cards ...... so many adventure cards .

[@praxiprax6804]

My partner and I just saw the Talisman game at a store, did quick research after getting home and decided to buy the original game and 5 expansions as they were on sale online for Xmas. Your channel is going to be our guide to play the game. Can't wait till it arrives.

[@thebottledimp]

Awww, that's great! Thanks for thinking of us as your guide through the magical quest game! May you have many an hour of excitement and joy in your Talisman adventurers.

[@GoldenChed]

You guys Talisman content is second to none 👍🏻

[@thebottledimp]

Thanks Duke!

[@DriedMoss]

I am really enjoying these as an audio background as I drive home from work each day. I am playing Talisman more and more at a new local game store I have been at. I love introducing and keeping the attention on Talisman for that community.

[@zacharykerber4820]

Thank you so much for these! New to the game so excited to jump in!

[@thebottledimp]

You are quite welcome. Enjoy!

[@jeromedevine384]

brilliant reviews mate, great channel! I’ve just gotten into Talisman 4th edition with my partner and we absolutely love it! can’t wait to grab all the expansions 🙏🏼

[@thebottledimp]

Thanks Jerome. Welcome to the magical quest game! You've many epic adventures ahead of you.

[@PreyDragon]

That was a helpful video to watch. Looking forward to you doing in depth detail on the expansion characters. Maybe you guys can do the review of the expansion characters in the same order as you suggested these expansions.

[@thebottledimp]

Thanks Prey Dragon. Yes, was thinking the same too! Look out for the first expansion character guide soon!

[@lucasstruna3962]

wow this has been on my mind thanks!

[@thebottledimp]

Glad to be of help Lucas.

[@anders6326]

I don’t think I can say I’ve ever fallen in love with a game before reading the rulebook or even seeing it played - my friend teased us with this at their party last night and I didn’t get to play, but as a hardcore hobbyist game I just get the feeling I’m going to LOVE this game and all of it’s expansions! I understand it has more RNG than Mage Knight and gloomhaven but that’s ok because I feel I’d always enjoy the experience, with an avid fan said is the best way to enjoy Talisman, from their review on BGG. I’m so glad I found your channel! I’ll keep watching your content.

[@kirkadurka7152]

I picked up the base game 2 weeks ago on switch and I have played about 2 hours a night. Got paid today, so i picked up the season pass. Its a shame i still to pay 10$ more dollars for the rest of the mini expansions but I've been having an absolute blast

[@thebottledimp]

Good to hear!

[@VladTaltos01]

I just recently got into Talisman and ended up getting The City as a gift as my first expansion. I'll definitely get the Reaper soon but I've got the feeling that the city is a great first expansion tbh :)

[@captainnolan5062]

If you could set up your perfect Talisman game, which expansions would you play with?

[@ffxiarcadius]

base game, city, highlands, dungeon, woodlands, deep realm, reaper if you just ignore dark fate, you're stylin

[@TomorrowWeLive]

I'd love to buy all of them--unfortunately our games take so long we usually don't end up finishing them anyway, so the last thing we need is something that adds more time!

[@thebottledimp]

I hear you!

[@plushysheep]

in my experience the city and highland especially can cut a lot of time because of the powerlevel added to the items through the city + the easy money generation from the highland :)

[@jasondutton8506]

Went nuts on Talisman, got them all!!!

[@thebottledimp]

You crazy fool! Your life is not your own now! Enjoy this wondrous adventure you are embarking on...

[@JPeoplzOIII]

😂😂😂 from the gate he's talking to me. Dead on. Great vid

[@thebottledimp]

Good to hear!

[@tourguidechuck]

One question. I have The City and The Woodland. The City seems to require a good deal of money. Which expansion, if any, is more likely to generate gold? I would guess The Dungeon due to its name. Or maybe there isn't one better than another?

[@Future-rv7ik]

Very useful! Good job!

[@thebottledimp]

Thanks Future. Glad you found it of help. We've a Talisman Playlist with in depth reviews of the base game and all of the expansions too.

[@Future-rv7ik]

@@thebottledimp I know. I've seen almost all of them. Also, are you from the UK as I am and would like to know where I could get the expansion passes

[@thedancingalien7766]

Outstanding

[@Rman01]

Been playing around with the base game and reaper after watching your channel. It's been great so far, thank you. What would you suggest as a good combination of extensions to expand the depth of the game? Also, and semi-related to that question, after playing a few times it really feels as if the inner region is the biggest flew in the game. It's just so boring and unchallenging compared to the outer and middle region. Any good advise to fix this element of the game? Thanks

[@inforit60]

5:53 Ghost says hello.

[@ilanpue]

Man like your videos of talisman hard to find in my country but love the game i only play the blood moon expansion

[@fabbist4965]

5:53 Dat was a poltergeist in the right bottom moving dat thing 0_0

[@thebottledimp]

For reals!

[@robertmarginean164]

I think you should do a top 10 Talisman Expansions

[@d.b.7591]

I have main game, dungeon and highland expansion, but somehow I have a deck of cards that look just like the pattern on adventure cards, but red. They seem to have riddles or quests on them anyone know what these might be from? I bought a used base 4 th edition, and these cards were not in my previously owned 4 th edition.

[@marcom7848]

Alternative warlock's quests

[@ICEMAN-]

The correct answer is to pay 11$ for the talisman complete bundle on humble and get everything

[@werneto8598]

How do you fight of the pitfiends in the pit? I dont get it. Do you fight them all in one round? And what if you have enough that you dont need to roll the die? Could you explain?

[@plushysheep]

You fight them one by one. And you can keep fighting until you either lose or draw a fight. If that happens you have to fight the remaining ones in the following turn.

[@JB007Link]

What do you think about Realm of Souls, Ancient Beasts and Clockwork Kingdom? These expansions are available only in Digital Edition.

[@thebottledimp]

I've not played with those on the digital version yet.

[@alascala1544]

These videos have been super helpful for me when deciding what editions to buy for the digital edition. Is there any chance of reviewing the Realm of Souls, The Ancient Beast, and The Clockwork Kingdom?

[@venomous2362]

Hey man, thanks for a great video. I was wondering if you know how I can get my hands on some of these for not extremely expensive prices because I know they aren’t really reprinting them anymore

[@venomous2362]

moose50 yep! A little after this I researched and found them on amazon! So glad they are printing them again now

[@moose50gaming]

@@venomous2362 Excellent! Yeah me too, I'm buying loads now haha

[@julielane3073]

I am considering going all in with this(as much as I can find) with my tax check. I also want the Kingdom Hearts version

[@thebottledimp]

Yes! Although I'd buy and play the base game first to see if you like it. Then get a few of the expansions, again to see if you like them. We've reviewed all the expansions too!

[@julielane3073]

@@thebottledimp they seem to be sold out right now. Maybe I will buy the Kingdom Hearts version.

[@skeletorrobo]

Have you seen the new expansions for Talisman Digital Edition? Including Realm of Souls and Ancient Beasts. Also 'Clockwork Arcana' and 'Deep Sea'' expansions In the works.

[@thebottledimp]

I've heard of them but not played them. I did a review and play through of the digital editing base game. Are they good?

[@skeletorrobo]

@@thebottledimp I like them. The Realm of Souls works when your character has lost their last life. They become a ghost and enter the ghost world, encountering the Realm of Souls cards where ever in Talisman they go. This transition is marked on the game board with all the Talisman realms going an eerie blue colour. When a ghosted character defeats an enemy they have 1 life restored, but they won't be resurrected unless they return with said lives to the place where they were killed (marked by a gravestone). If a character loses a single life while a ghost, their character is killed completely. The mechanic works well I think, allowing the player one extra life (albeit as a ghost) with a chance for resurrection (and maybe collecting some Realm of Souls loot and characters along the way.) The Realm of Souls expansion includes the Archon, Clairvoyant and Spectre Collector characters and 6 adventure, 3 spell, 70 Veil, 3 terrain and 2 Alternative endings cards. The Ancient Beasts is a little unfamiliar to me as I have only gotten it recently. Suffice to say, having giant monsters stomping the land (making the realms shake!) and often, stalking the players (!!) is an awesome variant. You can have up to 10 monsters on the screen at the same time if you want pandemonium, but I usually have one in game at a time, because they seem powerful enough on their own. Each of the monsters have interesting traits, behavior and often victory conditions (which end the game, like Harbinger) The Ancient Beasts expansion contains the Specialist and Trophy Hunter Characters, 15 Beast, 13 Terrain, 27 Beast Reward, and 2 Alternative Endings cards, together with 6 tokens.

[@thebottledimp]

Ah, they both sound very cool. I like the idea of the ghost character if you lose all your normal lives. Adds yet more flavour to an already tasty game! Thanks for describing them.

[@onionsan7688]

Great job! It must be hard keeping it as simple as possible with a game like talisman and its many expansions. I personally turn the mechanic of moving the reaper and werewolf off but keep the rest, because it slows the game to a crawl. Not too sure on woodlands area either. I love the additional corner board and cards, but it never feels worth it entering there from a gameplay perspective. I have two questions if you don't mind. The first, have you played the new digital only expansion Ancient Beasts? (awesome expansion imo) and with Talisman, that has so many characters to choose from and so many variables to take into consideration, have you ever thought about making a complete in-depth as you like character tier list video? I'm a sucker for tier lists! lol. For example, Martyr, Doomsayer and Dark Cultist top tier. Priest, Dread(ful) Knight, Minstrel bottom. I would personally love that, and think it would be a really interesting video. Thanks.

[@straightfrommaroco]

I would also love a tier list 👍👍

[@thebottledimp]

Thanks Onionsan. Glad you liked this episode. Yes, with all the expansions, the game can get quite complicated. The great thing about them is you can play as many or as few expansions as you like in any combination. Your tier list idea sounds good, thanks. We'll have a think!

[@erikjongejans980]

Just wondering: can you combine the cataclysm with the dragon expansion too?

[@JB007Link]

Yes you can. I Just checked that in Digital Edition.

[@robertmarginean164]

Am I the only one who uses the Dargom expansiom but doesn't use the Inner Region board? I mean, it's a cool idea to have to draw Dragon Cards in the Dragon Tower, but nobody goes that way if you can just go through the Dungeon

[@danielmarlett1421]

You have sucked me into this game. I purchased Reaper before I ever got the base game because it was hard to get at the time. After getting the base with reaper I got Dungeon and then Blood Moon. I plan on getting the other corner pieces before going back to the mini expansions.

[@liquidnation9992]

5:49 did anyone notice the box fall over in the bottom right corner?

[@BigDaddy-fo7id]

are these backwards compatible with 2nd edition

[@anatelevi]

hi there im from Israel and i bought the hebrew version of the game but in Hebrew they dont have the expansions so i thoght buying the English version and to add it an expansion . Do you know in which site thers a worldwide shipping? and maybe they have discount if i purchase some expansions?

[@georglaparidis6702]

i have all expanion . can some one tell me wich expanion can i combine. Its impossible to took all together on playing :D

[@straightfrommaroco]

Hands down best game ever! So glad I grabbed every expansion before they sold out. Some of the expansions now go for quite much on ebay. Do you know if they will reprint the 4th revised edition?

[@thebottledimp]

Yes, such a shame Fantasy Flight aren't doing the game anymore. However there has been a reprint of a select expansions with plans for more. The website Talisman Island is excellent for all the latest news.

[@Aitor]

The game and all the expansions, including the 2 "print on demand" ones (as a single set) are getting a reprint in the UK and US by Pegasus Spiele this coming August/September. I already made a preorder. The whole lot for a little over $300. Gotta have a laugh to all the scalpers and speculators on eBay!! XD

[@dominicbeaudrie2736]

Is there much difference in quality from the Fantasy Flight production versus the Pegasus release?

[@uaputte]

But is it only the host of the game in a MP that need the expantons or do all need to have them?

[@Euripides_]

About to buy Talisman base game for the first time! But why does he keep saying "careful how you say that" in relation to the Dark Cultist character. Heard him say it in another vid also haha

[@thebottledimp]

Enjoy many an epic game! Well, it's not polite to write it here!

[@felipezenteno348]

en que lugar ubicamos "el reino de las almas" ; "Las bestias antiguas" ; "El reino mecánico" son expansiones de pc

[@gallagherbgallagherb2504]

Do a lost realms review

[@JB007Link]

The Lost Reams is Deep Realms and Nether Realm combined, both have been reviewed already.

[@williamwilting]

Nether Realms and Deep Realms have been mashed up together in the Lost Realms expansion now. It is published by Pegasus. What do you think of the expansions released for Talisman Digital Edition?

[@101raziel905]

I used to play as a kid were to start now?

[@amirhayek821]

You should buy the revised 4th edition of Talisman :) that is the base game.

[@mrburns366]

i wonder if you could go nuts and use these expansions on the Star Wars or Harry Potter Talisman games? ...or mix the characters into different games? could lend to some crazy multiverse nonsense. lol

[@at0mic354]

Hasn't lost realms replaced the deep realms expansion

[@mrburns366]

am I the only one that actually liked the non revised 4th edition best? I really don't like the stuff that got "nerfed"

[@bushibayushi]

Cataclysm elevates this game to a new level, buy it first and never look back at the old board!

[@thebottledimp]

It does - it is more brutal than the original base game board. Steady on now!

[@bushibayushi]

@@thebottledimp I love the concept of Denizens, it makes the whole world feel organic ;).

[@thebottledimp]

Yes, it's a great touch. A bit of humanity in a distressed world.

[@Future-rv7ik]

Are you from the UK as I am and would like to know where I could get the expansion passes

[@thebottledimp]

Yes, we're in the UK. Do you mean for Talisman the digital game? If so visit the Nomad Games website as they make the digital version. Or Steam, as they sell the game.

[@Future-rv7ik]

@@thebottledimp No, I mean the physical copies

[@oriolalba9834]

Where do you buy the expansions?

[@thebottledimp]

I guess it depends which country you live in. Amazon stocks them but I would search for board game shop and see what comes up. There are plans for a reprint of most of the expansions.

[@khorner91]

Is he serious ? They dont make the 4th edition anymore. If you want to spend 100 USD on a small expansion nowadays, if you even find them, i bid you good luck.

[@thebottledimp]

I can feel your pain Konrad. On the USA Amazon website, it appears the base game of Talisman is $89 for a new copy, whilst the expansions seem to be second hand and therefore a lot more than new. We're based in the UK and they're not out of print so sell for a reasonable price. The new publishers, Pegasus, took over from America based Fantasy Flight, are based in Germany so this might explain the high cost for a new copy of the base game for USA customers. It looks like reprints are part of the plans as the new publishers have them featured in the 2019 catalogue along with new Talisman games such as a card game. There's even a new Batman version coming out! Here's a link to their website for you to download their 2019 catalogue. Hope this helps: www.pegasus.de/en/publisher/service/catalogue/

[@metal4k787]

Zatu UK has 5+ in stock £40.79 plus most expansions.

[@totalpartykill999]

didn't know that Jamie Lannister liked to play Talisman